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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.